


Beauty and the Beast

by WoNdY_Alice



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Developing Relationship, F/M, Pre-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-09
Updated: 2015-09-04
Packaged: 2018-04-13 20:15:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4535826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WoNdY_Alice/pseuds/WoNdY_Alice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Love is for children." When Natasha joined the Avengers, she never expected to do something as silly as fall in love. Or, how Natasha ended up falling in love with Bruce Banner.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Their first meeting did not go as planned. Natasha Romanoff considered herself a strategist and liked being prepared for any situation. When Coulson informed her she would be recruiting Bruce Banner, she immediately planned out anything that could go wrong and how she would handle the situation. During the actual meeting, she had been pleased when everything had gone her way until he exploded in pure rage. Instinctively pulling out her gun, she remembered all of the escape routes and the backup she hired to ensure he would be taken down if the Hulk came out. Her heart beat fast and hard in her chest, and she knew in that moment she truly feared the Hulk.

Yet the big guy didn't show.

Instead Bruce innocently raised his hands and admitted he wondered what she would do. He tricked her, and she did not appreciate the action.

Ever since, their relationship had been distant at best. When the Avengers parted, she knew she wouldn't miss him in the slightest. Eventually the Avengers had to meet up again to take down HYDRA, and she had to share the same space with Bruce Banner once again.

The first interaction was not particularly interesting.

"Hi."

"Hi."

And that was basically it.

It wasn't as if she hated the man, but she didn't care about him either. She focused more on the beast inside and what that thing could do. It caused a damper on their potential friendship, but she didn't mind. After all, spying on Tony Stark caused slight tension between them, and she never bothered trying to fix it. What was done was done.

It wasn't until the aftermath of their first battle when she took notice of the man and not the monster.

They had infiltrated a HYDRA base, and they quickly took down all the members within. The mission was a success, and it resulted in the Avengers throwing a small party as a result. Each member could not stop smiling that day except for one. It took her a bit to notice Banner was missing from the celebrations. At first, she thought nothing of it, and she continued to have fun for the rest of the night.

She found Banner the next morning brewing coffee in the kitchen.

Out of all the Avengers, Natasha and Banner were the only ones who woke up early in the morning. Normally they never spoke to each other, but curiosity got the better of her. When she began brewing her own cup of coffee, she turned to Banner, who was sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper. "I didn't see you at the party yesterday," she casually commented.

He stiffened slightly, and Natasha took immediate notice of it. "I was tired," he mumbled. "Figured I could use some sleep."

"At seven?" She raised an eyebrow. "That's a little early, Banner."

He shrugged and that concluded the conversation. It didn't quell her curiosity though. From the corner of her eye, Natasha observed him, taking in his rugged form and the bags under his eye. Contrary to what he said, he did not sleep the previous night, and Natasha could easily tell. Something was bothering him, and it was preventing him from celebrating. Perhaps his hatred of the Hulk had not dwindled down as much as the team had hoped.

Shrugging, she decided not to think of it anymore and went back to her usual morning routine.

When they attacked another HYDRA base, the soldiers were prepared for the Avengers. It was longer and bloodier, which tired out the Avengers rather quickly. Once it was over, the team met up by the door of the base, and Tony instantly noticed something wrong. "Where's Bruce?" He frowned, searching the circle of heroes as though the man would suddenly appear.

The team frowned and glanced around, just noticing their missing member. "Do you think the Hulk ran off?" Steve asked, his body tense. The team stiffened at the notion. If the Hulk found civilization, there was no telling the destruction he could bring. Steve ordered them to split up and find Bruce or the Hulk. Tony and Clint checked inside the base while Thor flew over the area in case the Hulk had run off. Steve and Natasha checked the forest surrounding the base.

Surprisingly, it was Natasha who found him.

He was naked, and he was staring at one of the fallen HYDRA soldiers. She sighed in mild annoyance. He had them worried for nothing? Slowly she approached him, careful not to anger him in case the Hulk decided to make an appearance. Even after working with the monster, she was still weary of him. "Bruce?" she asked softly.

He didn't answer, but his hands were moving quickly.

"Bruce?" she said again but louder. "Bruce, we have to go."

"How old do you think he is?"

Natasha furrowed her eyebrows. Ignoring every instinct telling her to be careful, she walked up to him and leaned over. "What does it matter?" she shrugged, taking in the young features of the enemy. "He's HYDRA."

"He's a teenager."

Natasha frowned. "Guilt will get you nowhere," she informed. "He was an enemy, and we took him down. He may be young, but he was old enough to make a decision to join HYDRA."

Bruce's fists were clenched, and it took all of her willpower not to take a couple steps back. "What if he had no money and they paid him to do this?" he asked angrily. "What if they forced him to join? What if they lied to him about it being HYDRA?"

"Bruce, it doesn't matter," she pushed. "We took down a HYDRA base. Why can't you be happy about that?"

"Because of all the dead people surrounding it," Bruce countered. "People that wouldn't be dead if it wasn't for me!"

"We would have killed them without you." She didn't know if that would be comforting to him, but at least it would ease the guilt he felt.

"Then can you do that next time?" His tone changed. It was more pleading than anger. "I don't like this. I don't like seeing the faces of the people the other guy killed. I'm not a soldier, and I'm not a killer."

She sighed, running a hand through her red hair. "No, you're not. You're an Avenger and being an Avenger means getting your hands dirty. You may not like it, but the world will appreciate it. Now come on. We need to get back to the rest of the team."

Bruce sighed, taking one final glance at the young boy. "Can we bury him?" he mumbled, already knowing the answer.

"How would we do that?"

"I don't know, but I want to do something. I don't want to just leave him here… he's just a kid."

She took a deep breath to calm herself before nodding. If this helped him sleep at night, she supposed it wouldn't hurt. It's not like they had anywhere they needed to be in the next ten minutes. Standing up, she searched the ground beneath her for any twigs or leaves. She collected some of the bigger ones and began carefully covering the dead body with them. Once Bruce saw what she was doing, he stood up and followed her lead. He seemed to forget about his nudity or didn't care enough to cover himself around her.

It took fifteen minutes for them to make a proper gravesite, and it made Bruce smile sadly when they finished. The two walked back to the base together in silence, all while Natasha stole multiple glances at the man. His feet were bleeding, and judging by the amount, it had first started when he was making the grave. He must have been incredibly guilty to continue collecting branches instead of going to the base for clothes and shoes.

Lost in her thoughts, she almost blushed when Bruce glanced back at her, and she quickly looked away. She was rarely caught staring. He confused her though. Why feel guilty when he did what he had to do? They were HYDRA. It didn't matter if they were thirteen or thirty; they had to be taken down.

She paused at her own thoughts. Didn't she think the same things when she was an assassin? Had she truly not changed at all since then?

They met up with the other Avengers, and Tony instantly rushed to Bruce's side, cracking jokes to mask the worry he had felt. Steve gave him some clothes and shoes, which he hurriedly put on. Clint slowly approached her, a question in his eyes. She subtly shook her head, and his gaze shifted to the rest of the Avengers.

They didn't have a party that night, but they did all sit on the couch to drink a couple beers. All except for Bruce, who Tony claimed went to bed early.

The next morning was similar to all the others. Natasha strutted into the kitchen where Bruce was already sitting with his coffee and newspaper. Instead of walking right past him, she studied him for a moment. "Good morning," she spoke.

He slowly placed the paper down and stared at her in confusion. He really couldn't mask any of his emotions yet somehow he managed to trick her. It frustrated her to no end. "Good morning," he nodded his head.

"How'd you sleep?" She asked as she walked towards the coffee maker.

"Good." A lie, and a bad one at that.

"That's good." She gave him a small smile before taking a sip of her coffee. He nodded his head and turned back to the newspaper, not bothering to make conversation. She figured he trust her just as much as she trusted him. The rest of the morning was spent in silence until the rest of the Avengers woke up and crowded the kitchen. Tony sat next to Bruce and chatted about the progress they're making on their new project. Instead of ignoring the two, like she usually did, she watched them closely.

As Tony spoke, Bruce's body became more and more relaxed. His expressions were less guarded, and he even smiled at some of the billionaire's comments. Was this the reason the Hulk saved Tony when he fell from the wormhole? Because Bruce liked Tony? Was the monster that connected with the man? Perhaps that's why the Hulk fought with them instead of against them. Bruce found allegiance with the Avengers, and the beast inside respected that. But if Bruce detested the idea of killing someone, why did the Hulk not respect that? Did the Avengers mean more to Bruce than his peaceful tactics?

There was a complexity behind this man, and Natasha itched to discover what it was.

Like any other day, the Avengers eventually parted after breakfast. Clint and Natasha went to train together, but he could tell there was something on her mind. Instead of asking about it, he waited patiently for her to bring it up. Once they were done sparring, she walked over to grab a water bottle and a towel to wipe the sweat off her forehead. Sitting down cross-legged, she waited for him to follow her lead until they were both leaning against the wall, panting heavily.

"Clint?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you ever feel guilty?" she asked.

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Do you ever feel guilty about the people we kill?" she clarified.

"No. Do you?"

"No." She answered honestly. "Should we?"

"I don't think so. They made their choice to join HYDRA, so they should face the consequences," he repeated her sentiment. "If we spared them out of guilt, we wouldn't get anything done."

She nodded. While she agreed with his words, something still felt off in her chest. It wasn't guilt. She hadn't felt that in a long time. It was sorrow at her lack of empathy. If she felt no remorse towards the people she killed, did that make her different from people like Loki? She sighed. She didn't want to think like this, but Bruce's actions opened her eyes. He may have a monster inside him, but at least he hated the thing. While her demons were more metaphorical than literal, she still accepted them with open arms.

Maybe Bruce and his Hulk weren't the monsters on the team.

The Avengers were called later that week to destroy another HYDRA base. It was another blood fest, and Bruce disappeared once again. When the team wanted to look for him, Natasha stepped in and offered to carry the clothes. "I think I know where he is," she had told them before walking off in the woods. She followed the bodies until they lead to Bruce, who was once again trying to build a grave for another one of the fallen soldiers. This forest offered far less twigs and leaves though, and she could tell he was having trouble. "Bruce?" she called out.

He turned to her, once again unashamed by his naked body. "He's even younger than the last one," he whispered, eyes filled with sorrow.

She nodded and stretched out her arm, offering the clothes. "You can't save everyone," she informed him as he approached her. "You have to live with it."

"There's a difference between not saving someone and killing them," he murmured as he pulled his pants on.

"Have you talked to Tony about this?" she asked.

"He wouldn't understand. No one would."

She crossed her arms before admitting, "I think I do."

He raised an eyebrow, an amused smile coming to his lips. "You? You've been telling me this whole time that HYDRA is HYDRA no matter what."

"I may not feel guilty but I wish I did," she admitted, staring directly at him. "I wish I was human enough to feel some sort of shame for the lives I took, but I don't. I've been killing since I was a kid, and I couldn't afford that. I wish I could be more like you."

It was strange telling him something so personal, but she knew he needed to hear it. Perhaps she needed to tell someone as well. Bruce's eyes softened, and he sighed. "You don't want to be like me. You don't want to be afraid of what you could do… of what you could become."

She snorted. "You think you're the only one afraid of yourself? I may not have a beast ready to pop out whenever I'm angry, but that doesn't mean I don't have my own demons keeping me up at night."

"You can't sleep either?" His eyes widened, and his expression changed. He took comfort in what she said. She had to stop herself from reacting. Is her lack of sleep really what he took from that statement? Most people would focus on her demons or how she admitted she feared herself sometimes. Bruce truly was unlike anyone she'd ever met.

"Sometimes. It gets better after a while." She stated, and suddenly that look was gone, replaced with something darker. It was as though all the respect she had just earned from him was wiped out, and she didn't know how she felt about that.

"I don't want it to get better," he whispered. "Because the moment I can sleep at night, that's the moment I'll become comfortable with killing. I can't have that."

He walked past her, accidentally bumping into her shoulder. She frowned but didn't bother following him. Sighing, she glanced at the body that was only partly covered. She still couldn't predict the behaviors and mannerisms of Bruce Banner. In a way, no progress had been made since that first meeting.

For the first time, that immensely bothered her, and she was determined to do something about it.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning started as it usually did. Natasha started making her coffee as Bruce read the newspaper. It was silent, but it was different this time. Normally the silence was peaceful and relaxing, but today it was tense. It felt almost suffocating, and if Natasha was a lesser woman, she would have fled the kitchen to avoid it. Instead she stayed. In fact, she even turned to Bruce and just stared at him, waiting for him to look at her.

She could tell by his posture that he was struggling to stay focused on his reading material, and she smirked. Eventually he would turn and look at her, and it would be the perfect opportunity to start a conversation or  _something_. She'd prefer them screaming at each other to this silence.

Once again, he surprised her by standing up, folding his newspaper up, and swiftly walking out of the kitchen without a word. She frowned at the action and shifted her gaze to her coffee.

"Wow, that was awkward."

She snapped her head up and found the source of the sound. Narrowing her eyes at the culprit, she tightened her grip on her mug and frowned at Tony Stark, who was leaning against the doorway with an amused look. "Stark." She stated coldly.

"I knew something was up with Bruce. I just couldn't figure out what until now," he walked into the kitchen. "Is that coffee? Mind making me some?"

She rolled her eyes at him.

He grinned, "I'll take that as a no?"

"What do you want Stark?" she asked tiredly. She didn't have time to deal with him. Not when she was so stressed about whatever was going on with Bruce.

Tony shrugged, grabbing an Iron Man mug from the cabinet and pouring himself some coffee. Turning to her, he beamed happily at her before taking a sip. "I wanted coffee," he answered smugly. "I told you that."

She didn't bother giving him a response to the comment. Instead she replied, "You knew something was wrong with Bruce?"

"Oh it's Bruce now? Not Banner? Does that mean you'll call me Tony instead of Stark?" he smirked at her.

"Stark," she narrowed her eyes. "If you're not going to answer my questions, I'm going to leave."

Tony snorted and put his hand over his heart. "Oh you wound me," he snickered.

She started taking steps towards the door when Tony sighed, "Okay fine. Yeah, I've noticed something was up with Bruce. He's been quieter lately. Something was on his mind, and I couldn't figure it out. At least, not until I saw that little scene earlier. What's up with you and him?"

Part of her wanted to deny that there was anything "up" with Bruce and her, but she knew he wouldn't believe that. She also didn't want to confess that Bruce's mind had been filled with images of the dead HYDRA members, not with her. That was personal to him, and she respected him enough not to tell the team his secrets. So she did was she did best: lying. "We had a fight yesterday," it wasn't a complete lie, but it wasn't the complete truth either. "I wanted to talk about it this morning, but he didn't. That's it."

Tony bought it. "Yeah he doesn't like confrontation," he mumbled. "If I were you, I wouldn't wait for him to bring it up because he won't. He likes to avoid a lot of serious issues because he thinks he won't be able to handle it. He underestimates himself though, so you just have to show him he can handle arguments. You just have to be the one to take the first step."

She raised an eyebrow. "You pay that much attention to him?" She smirked. "That's adorable, Stark."

He laughed. "Yeah well I have to. Someone has to look out for him."

Yes, she supposed, someone does. She turned to the door Bruce used to leave the room. Stark was right. Looking back at the friendship between Bruce and Stark, it only happened because Stark was obnoxiously blunt and honest with him. While she highly doubted she would ever reach a level of brutal honesty with Bruce, she could at least bring up the conversation they had the day before and attempt to speak with him.

The rest of the morning was filled with Stark's chatter and stupid jokes until the rest of the Avengers came into the kitchen. Once they arrived, she immediately went to Clint's side and began discussing training with him.

She'd talk to Bruce later.

That later turned into several days. Each morning, when she walked into the kitchen, Bruce wasn't there. It didn't take a genius to figure out he was ignoring her, and it was frustrating. He was acting like a child, and avoiding her wouldn't help the situation. It would worsen it. After an entire week of not seeing him, she decided to find him on her own. The tower was big which made it easy to not be seen, but Bruce seemed to forget she was a spy. She could easily find him without breaking a sweat.

She hacked the security system and found him in the training room. An interesting choice considering he was the only one on the team that didn't need to train. She promptly went to the isolated room and stood in the doorway for a moment. The room had two mirrors facing each other, and she could see Bruce trying to avoid looking at his own reflection. He was trying to punch thin air and even did a few kicks.

"Your technique is flawed."

Bruce gasped, stumbling back in surprise. He stared at her with shock, and she smirked at the raw emotion on his face. How could he be so hard to figure out when he gave away everything in his expressions? She strutted into the room, keeping her eyes directly on him. Bruce gulped, "I'm just trying something new."

She shrugged. "New, old, it's still flawed. Let me show you."

With that said, she aimed a kick right at him but ensured it would only miss by a hair. He gasped and took a step back. "You nearly hit me!"

"If I wanted to hit you, I would have hit you," she replied. "Now try to hit me."

He frowned. "I don't—"

She aimed a punch at him but made it slow enough that he could easily dodge it. He ducked his head and when he came back up, he gaped at her in shock. She smiled innocently at him. He rolled his eyes and changed his position to prepare to attack. He raised his fist and aimed it at her, but she swiftly squatted down. Sticking out her leg, she jabbed his ankles, and he proceeded to all onto his back. She stood back up and wiped her hands. "Like I said," she smirked, "your technique is flawed."

"Yeah I figured," he grumbled sarcastically. She smiled and held out her hand. Bruce frowned, sitting up and staring at the hand as if he'd never seen one before.

She sighed. "You don't trust me."

He glanced up at her. "It's not like you trust me either."

He expressed no sign of taking her hand, so she crossed her legs and went into a sitting position across from him. She stared at him with newfound determination. "I want to change that," she confessed. "I think I may have judged you too harshly the first time we met, and I want to fix it. What can I do to make you trust me?"

"Judged me too harshly?" Bruce raised his eyebrows. "You didn't judge me at all. I don't think you even saw me the first time we met. Or the second. Or even the third. You saw the other guy, and I get it. Everyone sees the other guy when they meet me. I just figured you'd get over it like everyone else, but then the other guy attacked you and… I think that ruined any chance of you seeing me and not him."

Natasha remembered that. It was the first time she'd ever seen the Hulk, and it terrified her. The last time she was that scared was during her graduation ceremony. She remembered hiding from the beast and trembling like a child unable to focus and unable to think. "I don't think it ruined it," she whispered hoarsely. She didn't mean for that much raw emotion to come out.

Bruce sighed, playing with his own fingers. "I don't like scaring people," he whispered, "and I don't like killing people. I don't like the other guy, and most of the time I don't even like myself. I'm training because I'd rather fight as myself than as the other guy."

She smiled sadly at him. "They'll never let you fight as yourself."

"I know, but I can try."

She tilted her head to the side, "You're very hopeful," she observed.

Bruce shook his head. "I'm not hopeful. I'm scared."

"I am too," she whispered.

"Of me?"

"Of myself. I told you before that I don't like how I don't feel guilty. I don't like how I can kill without feeling anything. I was trained from a young age, and I couldn't afford guilt. I couldn't afford to not sleep because if I didn't then I'd be too tired for training the next day. I couldn't be tired or I'd make mistakes, and mistakes kill you. I didn't want to die." Natasha confessed.

Bruce's lips parted and his eyes widened with understanding. "Oh…" he mumbled. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I implied you were a bad person for not sleeping. I… I didn't think of… I'm sorry."

She smiled softly. "I am too. I'm sorry it took me so long to see you and not the other guy."

"So we're fine now?"

She laughed, "Yeah, we're fine now."

He smiled at her. "Alright. So how is my technique flawed?"

"You lack precision and strength. Let me show you." She stood up and held out her hand once again. To her surprise, he didn't hesitate to take it. For the rest of the day, the two of them sparred as she taught him how to fight properly. He was terrible at it, and he was far too clumsy to ever be a fighter. In a way, it was endearing how he tried so hard even though both of them knew he would never succeed.

As he was practicing his kicking, Natasha felt something stir in her chest. Not knowing what it was, she decided to ignore it for now.


	3. Chapter 3

Natasha and Bruce started training with each other almost every day. It led to multiple conversations, and the majority of them were surprisingly goofy. Bruce had a strange sense of humor. It was a mixture of dorky and cute, which was very endearing. The strange feeling in her chest started growing every day, and she was pretty sure she figured out what it was. Clint described it to her when he recalled the first time he met his wife.

Love.

_"Love is for children."_

Natasha sighed, sitting on the couch in her room. When Loki accused her of loving Clint, she retorted with that comment. At the time, she thought it was true. Falling in love was a fairy tale, and only certain people could do it. She was not one of them. She could never be one of them.

She might be one of them.

She sighed, running a hand through her hair. This was far too complicated.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Natasha frowned and turned towards it. "Come in," she called, and Steve opened the door with a bright smile. "Steve?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Nat," he closed the door behind him. "I wanted to talk."

She smirked coyly. "About what, Captain my captain?"

He rolled his eyes and sat down across from her. "Stop that," he said in a mockingly serious tone. "I wanted to talk to you about Bruce."

She kept her expression blank. "What about him?"

"I'm not stupid. I've noticed the looks you give him… and the looks he gives you," he added the last part. He searched her expression, but he couldn't find anything that gave her thoughts away. He sighed and continued, "I was wondering what you were going to do about it."

"About the looks I've been giving him?" Natasha smirked. "It's no secret that I like to flirt. Shouldn't you know that by now?"

He didn't even bother to blush. "I know the difference," he crossed his arms. "The way you look at me and the way you look at him are different things. When I'm in danger, you don't bother searching the woods to find me."

"Everyone searches the woods to find him."

"But for some reason you always do… find him, that is."

It was true. Whenever the team had to look for Bruce after he hulked out, Natasha was always the one to find him first. Tony even began joking about it although she could tell he was slightly jealous of her closeness to his best friend. They even had her carry around his clothes now because it was more convenient. Like their sparring, Bruce and Natasha always had a discussion when she found him. They were usually of a much more serious nature.

"I'm smart," she shrugged. "It's pretty easy to find him."

"You never found him before."

"What are you trying to do, Steve?" she sighed. "Play matchmaker?"

Steve shrugged, "I don't know. I just want you to be happy, and I think you two might be happy together. Is there anything wrong with that?"

"Steve, it's complicated."

"No it's not. You like him, and he likes you. What's so complicated? Thor and Tony have stable relationships, and they're in the same field as us," he pointed out. "What's stopping you from getting together?"

She opened her mouth to argue but could find no logical argument. Well, that wasn't true. She had a string of arguments that would convince Steve that she should not get together with Bruce. Instead she couldn't argue with herself. Steve was right. If she wanted to be with Bruce, why not be with Bruce? Where was the harm?

She smirked at Steve, "I thought I was the one who was supposed to give you love advice?"

"Sometimes a teacher learns from their student."

***

She started out subtle with her flirting: a little comment there, standing a little too close at a few parties, and always smiling at him. He was unresponsive. So she tried to be a little more obvious, and he still acted the same. It was a little frustrating, and she remembered Tony's advice on being blatantly obvious. It was very unlike her, but there wasn't any harm in it.

Before she could try out her new technique, another HYDRA base was found. The Avengers went, they fought, and they won. This time was different though. Normally they lost Bruce somewhere in the woods, but they, or Natasha, always managed to find him afterwards. This time the Hulk stayed a little longer than planned, and when the Hulk didn't have an enemy to fight, he turned on the team.

They were all currently hiding from him as he screamed and attacked the forest.

"Dammit, Veronica's not ready yet," Tony cursed.

"Veronica?" Steve questioned.

"I'll tell you later," Tony shouted, only barely avoiding a tree that was thrown at him.

Natasha was hiding behind the building with Clint, who was staring at the scene with wide eyes. He was trying to calm himself down, much like Natasha was, and he continued to mumble under his breath. "What do we do?" He whispered, fear slipping into his voice.

Natasha shook her head, shutting her eyes tight. Her hands began to squeeze into fists. She gasped, her eyes snapping open. In one of her hands was Bruce's t-shirt. Bruce… Bruce was an extension of the Hulk, not separate. It's why the Hulk saved Tony from falling. Gulping, she glanced at Clint before running out of their hiding spot. "Nat!" he screamed, but she ignored him along with the other team member's screaming in her ear.

Her mind was racing, trying to figure out how to reach Bruce. Her mind flashed to every conversation they'd ever had, and she hoped something meaningful would stand out.

_"The sun's getting real low," Bruce had whispered to her as they watched the sunset. Once again, they defeated another HYDRA base, and Bruce was mourning another enemy._

_Natasha raised an eyebrow. "Is that from something?"_

_Bruce shrugged. "Not really. I just made it up."_

_Natasha snorted. "So poetic."_

_"I try to be." He joked back. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye and slowly approached him. Sitting down next to him, they watched the sun as it slowly disappeared behind the horizon._

_"I never used to see the beauty in nature," she confessed. "Not until after I joined SHIELD."_

_"Really?"_

_"The world was a place I lived not a place I loved. When I left that business, I started loving it," she whispered, turning her head towards him. "It's why I want to save it."_

_Bruce smiled softly. The moment lasted for a couple seconds before he asked, "Is that from something?"_

_Natasha laughed, rolling her eyes and slightly shoving him._

As the memory came to her, she slowed into a walk. Would it work? There was only one way to find out. She could hear her teammate's screaming in her ear, and she quickly ripped the earpiece out. She couldn't be distracted. The Hulk turned towards her and shouted loudly. He glared at her and appeared as though he were about to charge at her. He began raising a fist. She gulped and shakily said, "The sun's getting real low."

The Hulk stopped, his fist almost reaching her, and his eyes went wide. She stood there, panting and terrified, as she stared up at him. The Hulk lowered his fist, and Natasha gulped before raising her own hand. Strangely the Hulk slowly brought his hand to hers, extending his own fingers so their hands were parallel.

She stared at the strange action and unconsciously lowered her hand. The Hulk followed her movement until his palm was facing up, right under hers. Briefly breaking eye contact, she shifted her gaze to his hands. They looked like Bruce's in a way… She slowly placed her hand on top of his, her fingers hovering over his wrist. She knew from his past confessions he used to slit them in hopes he would bleed out, but the Hulk prevented it. There were no signs of scars on Bruce's body yet there were slight hints of it on the Hulk's.

She softly touched them, and the Hulk huffed. She looked back at him, and she slowly started moving her hands onto his palm until she reached his middle finger.

The Hulk gasped, grabbing his head, and she could see Bruce's skin tone returning to the Hulk. Slowly he transformed back to himself and she smiled softly. He gasped, turning towards her with wide eyes. Flushing, he attempted to cover his nude body, something he had never done in front of her before. "H-how…?" he stammered.

She smiled, shaking her head, and walked towards him. Handing him the clothes, she whispered, "I saw you, not him. That's how."

He stared at her as though he was seeing her for the first time, and that's when Natasha knew he felt the same way she did.

"That was amazing!" Tony shouted, interrupting the moment. Natasha rolled her eyes, and Bruce flushed. They turned towards the team, who was staring at them with awe. "You have to start doing that from now on, Natasha."

Natasha turned to Bruce and smiled softly, "Yeah I guess I am."

Bruce mumbled something under his breath and promptly started changing into his clothes. As the team began joking around about what just happened, Natasha kept her eyes fixated on Bruce, who was trying to avoid all eye contact. He wasn't a fighter. He was a dorky nerd who told cheesy jokes. He was guilty and self-deprecating. He was adorable and endearing.

He was the man Natasha Romanov fell in love with.


End file.
